A Student Perspective on the Move to All Virtual Learning
Madison Johnson, NOISE Intern and North High School Senior
EDITORIAL BY MADISON JOHNSON
On the afternoon of August 7th, the Superintendent of Omaha Public Schools announced that we would be moving to an all-virtual learning format for at least the first quarter of the school year. I’m happy with this decision as it’s something my friends and I have spent the past week campaigning for but there are still a lot of lingering questions and I can’t help but miss what could have been of my senior year.
When the pandemic first hit the schools closed, I had plans for after spring break that just couldn’t work online; I had a calculus test to retake, AP exams to prepare for, and the ACT with a trip to a board game cafe with my friends afterward. Of course, there were more quiz-bowl competitions, and most importantly, going to prom for the first time, with a trip to St. Louis to see Hamilton at the end of the year. Sure, I wanted an extra week or two of Spring Break, but continuing virtual schooling in the fall was something I had never considered. Here we are five months later and it’s just been announced that we’ll be returning to school virtually as well.
The climate around preparing for college has entirely changed. I had two college tours planned for the Spring, having toured one of my top schools in October, hoping to visit more during the summer. Being out of school meant we didn't take the ACT in April, and with the June ACTcanceled, the Omaha location for July was filled up so quickly, I had to go to Lincoln instead. This meant it took even longer to submit college applications. Also, with my first official ACT in July, that leaves less time for retakes to bring my score up. Along with that, the ACT that Omaha Public Schools will provide is scheduled for late September, which is concerning because most schools have their Early Action deadlines on November 1st or the 15th. While ACT has talked about doing online testing, I’m not sure if it has been implemented yet, nor how it would work.
Virtual learning is currently supposed to last through the first quarter. Following that, the number of COVID cases in the district will be monitored, hoping to convert to the 3-2 model, and then eventually to full-time in-person learning. We know that we'll be split into groups A-K and L-Z going on different days, but there are still many unanswered questions. How will that work with block scheduling? Will we be doing extracurriculars? And how would those work under the new system? For the National Honor Society, in particular, with no guarantee that big events will be held, there won't be many opportunities to get those necessary hours. What about Homecoming? Some of my friends have suggested having it separated by grade, but that's still around 400 people packed into a small area for the seniors alone.
Senior year is going to be entirely new terrain, which is funny, seeing as that's not supposed to happen for another year. Some of us won't get to see our friends at school, the atmosphere will be entirely different, and there's still so much we don't know. August 18th will begin something that will shape my views going to college next year. I know colleges will handle this differently, and who knows where we'll be in the Fall of 2021, but my senior year will always be my baseline for how schools, colleges included, handled the pandemic.
To hear Madison’s audio editorial check out the Omaha Back to School Special Report on the Melee News Show.